The MLC also announced the re-selection of Kara DioGuardi as a Songwriter Director of the Board, the re-election of Tim Cohan as a Publisher Director of the Board and the election of Lidia Kim as a Publisher Director of the Board.
NASHVILLE, TN – The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) held its Annual Membership Meeting on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, marking another year of growth, progress, and impact for songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers.
The meeting opened with announcements regarding the organization’s Board of Directors. The MLC’s Class A Members re-selected Kara DioGuardi to serve a third three-year term as a Songwriter Director of the Board. The MLC’s Class B Members re-elected Tim Cohan to a second term as a Publisher Director and elected Lidia Kim as a new Publisher Director. The make-up of the Class C Members will remain unchanged in 2026. Following these announcements, Board Chair Alisa Coleman shared personal remarks about The MLC’s progress over the past year, and members of The MLC’s leadership team presented key operational updates and milestones.
Now in its fourth year of operations, The MLC continues to efficiently administer the blanket compulsory mechanical license for more than 50 digital service providers (DSPs) across the United States. In 2025, membership has grown to over 68,000 worldwide, and The MLC has completed every one of its 54 monthly royalty distributions on time or early. The MLC also continues to see a steady increase in the volume of musical works data added to its public database, which now contains data for more than 50 million songs, allowing anyone to search The MLC’s database at no cost. As a result, The MLC has surpassed a major milestone, distributing more than $3 billion in total royalties to rightsholders. This milestone underscores The MLC’s ongoing commitment to bringing greater transparency, efficiency, and accuracy to digital audio mechanical royalty distributions in the United States.
Here is a list of the key metrics and milestones The MLC’s leadership team shared during the meeting:
- The MLC has achieved total royalties distributed of more than $3 billion and has processed nearly $4 billion in royalties. As of the September distribution, The MLC has distributed over $225 million in historical royalties.
- The MLC now has more than 68,000 Members, having added more than 18,000 to date in 2025.
- The MLC has compiled data for more than 50 million works in its public database, an increase of over 6 million new works added in 2025 alone.
- The MLC’s current match rate for all royalties processed through September’s royalty distribution is nearly 92 percent.
- The MLC has completed 54 monthly royalty distributions to date, every one of which has been completed on time or early.
- The MLC successfully developed and enhanced its growing suite of tools that enable Members to register works, claim their shares of previously registered works, submit proposed matches of their works to unmatched usage, and more.
- The MLC has made extensive efforts to conduct outreach and educational activities aimed at reaching the full cross-section of the rightsholder community, with nearly 200 outreach and education events in 2025, contributing to a total of more than 1,000 outreach and education activities to reach and educate rightsholders.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support of our Members and partners,” said Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC. “Together, we’ve built an organization that not only delivers royalties accurately and on time but also brings new levels of transparency and innovation to rights administration. Surpassing $3 billion distributed is a milestone, but it’s only one step in our ongoing mission to ensure every songwriter and publisher is paid what they are owed.”
More information on The MLC’s Board of Directors and Advisory Committees can be found here. For more information about The MLC, visit https://www.themlc.com.
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